Save Lives of Nigerian Students Trapped in Sudan, Katsina Commissioner Urges FG

 Francis Sardauna in Katsina 

The Katsina State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Badamasi Lawal, has called on the federal government to save the lives of stranded Nigerian students in Sudan by evacuating them from the war-torn country to Nigeria.

Lawal, who spoke in a chat with journalists Friday evening, said the government should immediately evacuate the students to save their lives and mitigate the trauma amongst them.

He said: “The Nigerian students are without food, money and shelter. One could imagine the difficulties faced by these young adults. Only 10 out of the 40 buses were visibly seen conveying students to Egypt for possible evacuation to Nigeria. 

“The deal of hiring or chartering the buses should be concretised to speed up the process. The situation on ground dashed the hopes of the students, parents and concerned Nigerians that the trapped Nigerians will leave Khartoum soon.”

The commissioner said although the federal government was making effort to evacuate the stranded students from the war-torn country, it has not yielded significant results.

He lamented that many parents, especially those whose children are still in Sudan, were worried about their safety, especially now that the enemy planes were hovering over them at Afrique University, Khartoum.

According to him, the situation creates psychological fear in the minds of the students and making them discouraged in the pursuit of education in foreign countries.

He, therefore, appealed to those saddled with the responsibility of evacuating the students to leave no stone unturned in guaranteeing their safety by bringing them back to Nigeria.

He called on the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations and the African Union to step up actions to ensure restoration of peace in Sudan to avoid the escalation of the humanitarian crisis in the sub-region.